Persistent Sees SMAC As Future Growth Driver

Software services firm Persistent Systems is reportedly shifting out of its traditional IT services business and sees a future where business is driven by social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC).

The Pune-based IT company, which reported revenue of $76.32 million in the September quarter is completely move to SMAC. “Already about 50 percent of our revenue comes from cloud,” company COO Mrityunjay Singh told ET. “This is the fastest growing segment for us, growing 20 percent year-over-year and we see this as the future.

According to Singh, as more and more devices connect to the Internet, there’ll be a lot of data they’ll generate. Our investments are about visualizing the world from these devices and how can we as a company play a role in this new world.

In February this year, Persistent acquired US-based social apps startup CloudSquads, a California-based firm helps companies develop strategies for engaging with the modern social customer across all customer facing functions including brand, marketing, sales and support. In other words, it helps firms in digital transformation.

The mid-tier IT company reported a 17.3 percent jump in second quarter with its focus on digital transformation or SMAC projects. “Enterprise digital transformation represents both an urgent imperative and a great opportunity for our customers. We continue to strengthen our partner ecosystem spanning an array of platforms and technologies to drive this digital transformation,” Dr. Anand Deshpande, Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Systems said in a recent company statement, adding that these include many of the established industry leaders as well as new companies developing visionary and disruptive solutions.

The company has also appointed Tom Klein, specialist in technology law to the position of the General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, with an extensive knowledge in mergers and acquisitions as well as the domestic and international intellectual property transactions. “As the Company continues to evolve and grow around its core strength of building software, both customer success and realizing the market potential for digital transformation will hinge on an eco-system shaped by innovative technology and intellectual property transactions.” he said.

Big data analytics, cloud, social, mobility, Internet of things and gesture-based computing are some of the areas Persistent is bullish on and believe that’s where lies the future of technology. The company is also investing into design capabilities to ensure that applications created for newer devices such as Google Glass, smart watches and different mobile devices work in a unique manner.

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